Open Access

Dariah-Sohreh Seradj, Regine Beeck, Annika Haase, Julius Krause, Philipp Schick, Werner Weitschies

• The microbiome of the colon is characterized by its great diversity. This varies not only intra- but also interindividually and is influenced by endogenous and exogenous factors, such as dietary and lifestyle factors. The aim of this work was to investigate the extent to which the degradation of the drug sulfasalazine is influenced by different microbiota. Therefore, the in vitro model MimiCol3 was used, which represents the physiological conditions of the ascending colon. In addition to a representative physiological volume, the pH value, redox potential and an anaerobic atmosphere are important to provide the bacteria with the best possible growth conditions. Stool samples were taken from three healthy subjects, comparing omnivorous, vegetarian and meat-rich diets, and cultured for 24 h. However, the nutrient medium used for cultivation led to the alignment of the bacterial composition of the microbiota. The previously observed differences between the diets could not be maintained. Nevertheless, the similar degradation of sulfasalazine was observed in all microbiota studied in MimiCol3. This makes MimiCol3 a suitable in vitro model for metabolism studies in the gut microbiome.